City has work for 1,100 kids

Summer job program for youths pulls names via lottery

More than 1,100 Memphis youths selected by lottery Tuesday will be bringing home paychecks this summer as part of the city's revamped youth jobs program.

Young workers 14 to 21 years old will be placed in jobs in Memphis City Schools, city government and elsewhere at a cost of $2 million to taxpayers. More than 6,300 applied for the coveted summer jobs paying $6 to $6.85 an hour.

Starting today, youths can check the city's Web site, memphistn.gov, to find out their ranking by the last four digits of their Social Security numbers. Employment offers will be mailed out next week.

Mayor Willie Herenton said that the job program instills work ethic and opens the door to career opportunities for many youths. He wishes it could do more.

&quot;For a city the size of Memphis ... there should be thousands of summer jobs,&quot; the mayor said. &quot;I've got to challenge the business community.&quot;

The program was open to all in the age group regardless of income. But priority was given to those in more than a dozen &quot;target&quot; groups, including English language learners, those with special needs, young parents, those with minor juvenile offenses or who are behind one of more grades, youths in foster care or living in single-parent households or with grandparents, those residing in subsidized housing, and youths receiving public assistance or free or reduced-priced school lunches.

This is the second year the city has chosen participants as part of an automated lottery. Doing so, ensures fairness in who gets the jobs, officials said.

The program had been criticized in the past by parents claiming that many of the jobs unfairly went to kids from prominent and politically connected families.

Thurman Northcross, manager of Youth Services, said his office is awaiting a decision next week by the Memphis City Council about whether to offer more jobs to younger workers between the ages of 14 and 15. He said the demand from that age group outweighed the number of jobs that had previously been allotted for them.